


Inferno (Hell)

by Merced_0411



Series: Out of the Darkness [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: 2 x 16, Angst, Canon compliant- kind of, Choices, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Forgiveness, Friendship, Guilt, Hope, Love, Mount Weather, Other, Redemption, Romance, Sexual Tension, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 02:36:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12355713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merced_0411/pseuds/Merced_0411
Summary: Inspired by the choices, events and consequences of episode 2 x 16.





	Inferno (Hell)

**Author's Note:**

> "There is no greater sorrow  
> Than to recall a happy time  
> When miserable.”  
> ― Dante Alighieri

Clarke was still shaking from adrenaline as she looked at the former President’s dead body laying on the floor in front of her. _Why was it becoming so easy for her to take a life?_  If it had not been for the pool of red liquid forming on the old man’s chest, he would have looked to be sleeping peacefully. For a moment, she envied him.  _When was the last time she felt at peace?_  A distant memory, or perhaps a dream, began to form in her mind... A _small girl, with blonde curls, giggles as she nestles between her laughing parents. Her mother kisses her cheek, as her father lifts her up and places her on his shoulders. They are in an atrium, beneath a willow tree, surrounded by lush green plants. The child feels hopeful... and loved_...

“Cage is in level 5.” The sound of Monty’s voice instantly bringing Clarke back to the nightmare in which they were currently trapped.

Clarke ran over to Monty who was frantically typing and pressing buttons at the control station. “Can you do it? Can you irradiate level 5?”

“Yes.” Monty nodded pointing to the computer monitor in front of him. “I just need more... time.”

“Clarke,” Bellamy whispered, placing his hand gently on her arm. “If we irradiate level 5, women and children will die. People who helped us. Maya...”

Clarke winced as Dante Wallace's words echoed in her mind. _I b_ _ear it so they don’t have to_.  She turned around slowly to face her friend. His deep brown eyes filled with grief and sorrow. Bellamy, too, felt the burden of leadership. It was a burden neither one had asked for, but yet had willingly accepted from the moment they had arrived on Earth. “Then please, please give me a better idea.”

They looked at each other in silence, each one processing the weight of the impossible choice that they would be forced to make. Either way innocent people would die. Skaikru or the people of Mt. Weather. _After tonight, would she ever be able to find the way out the darkness?_ Forgiveness was something she could offer to others... but to  herself?  It did not seem possible.

Void of hope, Clarke turned to look at the screen in front of her. She watched helplessly as Cage entered the room where several Skaikru members, her people, were prisoners, chained along the dark stone wall. Cage walked slowly across the room, carefully considering his next victim. “Her!” He yelled, pointing to a small-framed women. “Put her on the table. She’s next!”

Clarke gasped as she recognized the woman now struggling with two guards. "Mom?" She was so overwhelmed with the emotional impact of seeing her mother that her cry came out as a soft whimper. _What was her mother doing in Mt. Weather?_

The man next to her began to yell, desperately attempting to break free of the chains that held him to the wall. “No! Please! We can donate the marrow, we can donate!”

_Kane?_

Clarke fought back tears as she listened to Kane’s pleas. “Kane is right, we can donate our bone marrow.” Clarke tried to sound convincing, willing her voice to remain steady. “Please, no one else needs to get hurt.”

Cage turned slowly to face Clarke through the camera.  She shuddered. The coldness in his eyes sent a shiver up her spine. “I am truly sorry it has to be like this. Negotiations are over, Clarke.”

Abby continued to struggle as the guards dragged her towards the table, but they easily lifted her, strapping her to the blood stained metal table. Kane was staring at Abby, a look of pure horror contorting his naturally handsome features. And Clarke noticed how her mother never took her eyes off of him. She was drawing _strength from him_.  Her mother deserved to be happy again.  Tears streamed down her face as she struggled to remember the last time she and her mother had talked, _really talked._ She prayed that she would still be able to tell her mother how much she loved her... _how much she still needed her._

Cage nodded to the medical technician. “Now!” He ordered. Abby, who had been silent, cried out in pain as the young lab technician drilled mercilessly into her thigh. Clarke did not know which screams were more heart wrenching; the agonizing screams of her mother, or those of Kane, forced to watch.

“Mom! No! No!” Clarke heard herself screaming, yet her voice sounded so far away.  She was at Mt. Weather because of _her_.  Her mother had relentlessly fought to save lives, while her daughter had become an angel of death. The shock and horror on her mother's face when she discovered Clarke had known in advance about the bombing of Ton DC, sent waves of guilt and shame coursing through her body.  _Her mother would not have abandoned her people_. Just as Clarke felt her legs threaten to give out under the weight of her body, a strong hand firmly grasped her shoulder.

_Bellamy._

She turned away from the horrific scene unfolding on the screen in front of her, and allowed herself to weep, pressing her face against his chest.  Bellamy wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly. _She_ _felt_ _safe._

"Abby will be OK,” Bellamy whispered gently in her ear. “We _will_ get out of this. _All of us_.” He was trying to remain calm, but Clarke could feel anger and fear pulsing through his body, his heart poundly wildly against her cheek.

“It’s my fault. I did this, I-”

“No… Clarke.” A tear rolled down Bellamy’s cheek as he tenderly cupped her face in his hands.  “You -”

“I got it!” Monty exclaimed. Bellamy quickly released her, refocusing his attention to his friend. “All we have to do is…. pull that lever.”

Clarke glanced at the screen, at her mother being tortured. _They were going to kill her_. “I don’t have a choice. They will never stop. It is the only way.”  _Forgive me,_ she added silently.

Bellamy nodded, his eyes reflecting her own sadness. As Clarke reached out to grab the lever, Bellamy placed his hand firmly over hers. "Together.”

Clarke looked into Bellamy’s eyes. "Together.” 


End file.
